End of September Update

A little bit of excitement in HQ this week with some positive news on the horses and by the time you read next week’s newsletter (which may be late to come out) we could have kickstarted the NH season with both Surrey Quest and Surrey Lord lined up for their seasonal returns with both maybe racing at Uttoxeter on Sunday. It’s always a great occasion to have two sets of owners on course to cheer on two Surrey horses (Toby plans to have 4 racing next Sunday) so hopefully the ground is soft enough for them to take their chances there. Uttoxeter have been watering, the ground is good and there’s a little bit of rain in the forecast so as it stands, we should be racing. 

Surrey Quest will start his campaign over hurdles, and there are several reasons for that. He had two falls last season, one resulting in a nasty kick to the head at Ayr, so it’s possible he’s lacking a little confidence so a return to lower obstacles should help. He has a 5-pound lower mark over hurdles, that will make him more competitive, and he may even perform better over hurdles especially on heavy ground. However, the main reason is that horses like Quest, who give it everything every time they run, especially those who excel over marathon distances, only have a few quality races in them over the course of their career and so must be managed so they don’t burn out before they reach their peak. We hope Quest has a couple left in him, but we’d want to save them for the main events, so he’ll be lining up in the 16.00 race, a class 3 (0-135) handicap hurdle over just shy of 3 miles.  

Two races later at 17.10 we hope to see Surrey Lord embark on his new season in a class 5 (0-100) handicap hurdle race over 2 miles. Surrey Lord is still a novice and has much to learn but he seems a better-behaved horse this summer and we’d hope that off his current mark he would be more competitive in a handicap than an open novice contest. It’s possible he’ll need further (and maybe even over fences) but as we said last season, until he finishes his races better, he won’t step up in distance. Lord also has an entry at Fontwell in a class 5 (0-105) race on Friday, the 14.28 race is over 2m 1.5f and is a viable option but Uttoxeter is favoured if all things are equal.   

Sea Presenting is a little behind where Toby would like her to be at this stage of the season and it’s unlikely that we will see her on the track until the latter half of October. She has benefitted from the time off and looks a much stronger horse, but we still don’t want her racing until she’s 100% ready. We’ll have a look at the options for her over the next few weeks, but she won’t be running at Chepstow mid-October.       

Of the other horses, Surrey Fire has had an easy week. After his last race, jockey David Egan suggested Lingfield would be a better track for him, especially as horses cannot challenge too far out because of the tight bend, but there aren’t any suitable races there for him so we’ll think of a plan over the coming weeks. He has an entry in the Tattersalls HIT sale at the end of October, as does Surrey Shadow. However, Shadow needs to pass the veterinary examination which will be carried out early next week. That will consist of an ECG and a gallop, which is then sent to the BHA who will have to sign off that he can race again. Assuming he comes through this with flying colours, Tom will be looking to run him again in mid-October. 

Those who have a share in the two-year-olds have had to be very patient, but it does appear that all three of them are slowly getting there. Surrey Etoile, as we reported recently doesn’t have any heat in his legs so he’s slowly building up to faster work, Surrey Moon has really grown now, over 16.1 hands, great depth and filling out nicely. He’s on the grass and now managing two canters on the odd day each week and although still backward, Tom is really pleased with his progress. Surrey King, who the owners saw on the grass gallops for the first time last week, backed up that work again this week with another long sweeping grass gallop which he enjoyed stretching out in front of the other two-year-olds. As few more of them and he’ll be ready for action!  

Last week we sent an email out asking whether you would be interested in another flat horse. About 50% of the owners responded with some very thoughtful feedback which was great to read, thank you for those responses, it does help us plan for the rest of the year and into next year. If you haven’t replied and would like to do so, we do welcome the feedback no matter what it is.  

Possible races and events.                         
                     
October
Friday 3rd – Surrey Lord – Fontwell
Sunday 5th – Surrey Quest, Surrey Lord – Uttoxeter
Friday 24th – Surrey King – Newbury
Saturday 25th – Surrey Quest – Cheltenham